Share this story

Third-generation iPad owners: does the fourth-gen iPad irk you? We asked that question of Ars readers on Wednesday this week, just after Apple's second fall media event which introduced the device (as well as plenty of other products). We wondered what our readers thought of Apple's shake-up of the product cycle—the fourth-generation iPad was released only seven months after the third-generation, leaving many (but not all) third-gen iPad owners scratching their heads over whether they had made the right choice.

For plenty of geek types—which Ars readers unequivocally are—the answer to the question seemed obvious enough. After all, the third-generation iPad works just as well today as it did last week, and who wants to slow down the progress of technology? But as expected, our readership offered some well-reasoned responses on both sides of this discussion. One person's personal use case doesn't necessarily apply to everyone else, and we may not all agree on each answer. Still, it's clear that people have put some thought into this question and into how Apple's actions this week might affect their future buying purchases.

No irkage here

We'll start with those who had little-to-no problem with Apple's introduction of the fourth-generation iPad. Many of the 300+ responses we received from the first article admitted some initial irritation after hearing the announcement but said they "got over it" soon after realizing how much they still value their current devices.

One such example was from Michael Bushnell: "I was irked for about two seconds, but then I got over it. All I use my iPad 3 for is reading books, reading Ars, email, etc. Very lightweight use. I can understand why those who use their iPads more heavily would feel slighted, but for me it makes little difference in my every day use. I'm just glad I have the retina display."

Another user, swholliday, felt the same way. "I'll admit to some annoyance on seeing the announcement since I bought a third gen earlier this year. On the other hand, I consider iPads multi-year devices, and beyond screen resolution and storage I'm not concerned about specs, so it's not a big deal. When I boil it down, the Lightning connector is the only thing that really bothers me, and that's more because it would be nice to not have to worry about separate cables (an iPhone 5 is my only other Apple mobile device.)"

Others made it clear that they'd rather have Apple make technological progress than hold onto products to make users feel better.

"Who cares?! I think it's a good move by Apple given that Microsoft's new Surface beats the iPad 3rd gen in some benchmarks whereas the new A6X 4th Gen iPad blows it out of the water. That fact that Apple stays ahead of the performance curve is a good thing," a user named Squuiid wrote.

"I've been using mine happily for months in the knowledge that Apple were going to release a new version eventually," DavidNielsen added. "I am not irked by the fact that technology moves ahead but I did not expect them to refresh the iPad this quickly."

In fact, some wished Apple would treat its other products the same way. "I'm actually happier if Apple would release updated products on a more regular basis. In my mind, Apple's slow release schedule often makes their products poor value as they get on in age (i.e. Mac Pro right now or the iMac as of last week)," ronm88 wrote. "I'm in the market for a new desktop (Mac Pro or iMac), and I've been patiently waiting for an update. I would be happier if they would update their computers every six months or so, and then I wouldn't feel like I need to wait for the latest and greatest."

Then there were those who said they weren't planning to upgrade anytime soon anyway, and the fourth-gen iPad doesn't tempt them enough to make it worthwhile.

"Doesn't bother me, because I had always aimed to keep my 3rd-gen iPad for at least 2 generations. That had previously equated to 2 years, but if I have to stretch it out to 3 generations (or more), so be it," wrote rolphus.

Another reader named aphoid agreed. "I'm not really irked even though I bought a The New iPad in August. It still works great. I have a launch-day iPhone 4S, so I can still share cables, unlike if I upgraded. The processor speed is good enough, I haven't noticed slowness. The 4th gen doesn't fix my biggest complaint about mine: it's just too heavy to hold for long periods of reading. Now, if they'd managed a significant weight drop in addition to the processor upgrade, I might be annoyed or at least tempted to upgrade."

But wally626 pointed out that third-gen iPad owners outside of the US might have more reason to be frustrated than others due to the device's LTE limitations—had they known a more compatible version was coming out half a year later, they might have waited. "Not irked, I think I would be if I bought a LTE model in a country that is not supported by 3rd Gen. but is supported by 4th Gen," wally626 wrote. "The screen is the same, the new connector may eventually be good, but for now it is a minus. Faster is nicer, but I do not do anything that pushes the current iPad Gen. 3."

Ultimately, Zoolook summarized the general feeling shared by many existing technophiles by pointing out that this is the natural progression for all techy gadgets, and those who can't handle owning quickly outdated toys should get out of the game.

"If you're a technophile, you expect to get stung like this often. If you buy cutting edge GPUs or CPUs or motherboards for gaming PCs (which I did for the best part of a decade) you're always fighting a losing battle. In the days of the 'dumb' phone, new models were released with careless abandon; that's still the case in Android-land. Same is true with some consumer devices (just got the latest plasma TV for $4000... oh look, here's a better one for half the price)," Zoolook wrote. "Do people whine? Nope."

Unhappy buyers

But while those responses might resonate with a certain demographic of users, plenty of other Ars readers were happy to explain why they weren't thrilled with how things played out between the third- and fourth-generation iPad introductions. The most common argument rested on Apple's assertive obsolescence policy when it comes to future iOS releases, which, in turn, affects how third-party developers treat older devices. Many iPad owners are also iPhone owners, and they know what it's like to own a fairly recent device that doesn't support all the latest OS features.

"It's inevitable that it was going to happen, and I don't think the iPad 3 is in danger of becoming obsolete and unsupported anytime soon," Tridus wrote. "Now if they drop support for it within another year? THAT will be infuriating."

Fulgan agreed. "What really bothers me is that Apple has a very well-known device obsolescence policy: Current and previous generation devices get all the goodies, the generation before that gets less (and typically upgrading the OS on such a device makes it slow as glaciers) and after that, it's 'no more of anything for you' time."

"Yeah, I was 'disappointed.'" eg0nomic added. "I felt that what I just bought aged very quickly, much more quickly than I had hoped. It's not so much about the gen 4 being better than mine, it's that the overall life is shorter."

As did iforget: "To be honest, I'm more annoyed that the iPad 1 I bought was obsolete only a year and a half after it left the shop shelves (despite having essentially the same hardware as the iPod Touch 4, which is still on sale and still supported). If iOS 7 rolls out next year and drops support for the iPad 3, then I'll be even more pissed, though I really don't see that happening. "

Another reader, sakanagai, went a step further to explain this line of thinking. "The more troubling aspect comes from the support cycle. Two generations back is about as far as iOS updates reach, and even then the functionality is limited," sakanagai wrote. "These updates are designed to take advantage of the latest hardware release, so naturally some features are left out in older models. But the original iPad is already out of the support loop. The iPhone 4 and 4th gen iPod Touch have a limited version of the latest version. Depending on the scale of hardware refreshes, this rapid turnaround could shrink the supported life span considerably. And if the next hardware isn't a significant upgrade, why launch/buy it?"

At least one reader, tvalleau, highlighted how the short update cycle impacts independent or hobbyist developers—an update to the iPad line so soon after the last means developers once again don't own the latest device for testing. "As a single-person developer, I must have the latest and greatest to test my software. $800 in April for an iPad; $400 last month for the iPod 5; now $800 more?" tvalleau asked. "Irked? YES."

Indeed, although I generally fall in the first category (those who don't see it as such a big deal), I can sympathize with concerns about future software compatibility. In addition to the hundreds of responses we received from the original article, I also received numerous personal e-mails and IMs that echoed the same sentiment: people are concerned that Apple might drop support for their third-generation iPads six months earlier than it might have otherwise.

But of course, there were still a few third-gen iPad owners who were annoyed at the update for other reasons, however frivolous they may be. Ars reader nathanziarek, for example, clearly likes to resell his old devices for a good price. "I've always disliked that Apple products disintegrate after new models are released. It seems like they should retain some value," nathanziarek wrote.

And then there's the ol' 30-pin versus Lightning connector problem, which was mentioned by users on both sides of the argument. "The only thing that irks me is that I have an iPhone 5 with a lighting connector and an iPad3 with the old 30 pin connector, so now I have to keep two different cords around," pancakesandbeyond said. The comment, acknowledging its own weight in relation to other people's concerns, ended with the tag "#firstworldproblems."

Share this story

Jacqui Cheng
Jacqui is an Editor at Large at Ars Technica, where she has spent the last eight years writing about Apple culture, gadgets, social networking, privacy, and more. Emailjacqui@arstechnica.com//Twitter@eJacqui